Robert Andrew Mimms (born 12 October 1963) is an English football coach and former player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Mimms' career lasted twenty years, and is best known for his tenure with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

, where he was a member of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

winning squad in 1995. He also played top flight football for Everton,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

as well as a spell in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Mimms also turned out in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

. He was capped three times at

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...

level. Since retiring from playing, Mimms has worked as a goalkeeping coach for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, Blackburn Rovers,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

, ATK,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and

SC East Bengal East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

Playing career

Born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, Mimms began his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

career as an apprentice at

. However, he failed to break into the first team and joined

in November 1981 for a fee of £15,000. In 1985, he was sold to Everton, who had just won the league title and

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

. During the 1980s, Mimms played for no less than eight different clubs, as he went out on loan from Everton more than once. However, due to an injury to

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985. He joined Bury from Winsford U ...

, Mimms played in goal for Everton in the final weeks of the 1985–86 season. Everton were top of the league for most of the last three months of the season, but were pipped to the title on the last day by local rivals

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Liverpool won the FA Cup as well that season, beating Everton 3–1 in the final, with Mimms in goal for the losers. He played as Everton shared the 1986 FA Charity Shield with Liverpool and won the

1987 FA Charity Shield The 1987 FA Charity Shield (also known as the General Motors FA Charity Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 65th Charity Shield, a football match contested by the holders of the Football League First Division and FA Cup. This edition was ...

against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. He was later sold to

in 1988, following the retirement of

Ray Clemence Raymond Neal Clemence, (5 August 1948 – 15 November 2020) was an England international football goalkeeper and part of the Liverpool team of the 1970s. He is one of only 31 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances, and holds the r ...

, and had more first team chances at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

than he had been given at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

. In December 1990,

manager

Don Mackay Donald Scrimgeour Mackay (born 19 March 1940) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. Managerial career After a spell coaching the Bristol City youth team between 1974 and 1978, where he was part of the backroom staff th ...

signed him for a fee of £250,000 from

making him Blackburn's most expensive transfer at the time. He was signed in the early stages of

Jack Walker Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Blackb ...

's backing of Blackburn, and just weeks before Walker took full control of the Second Division club. Blackburn had a slow start to the 1991–92 season, and Mackay was sacked in early September, being replaced the following month by

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

. Dalglish made several substantial signings during the season and Blackburn reached the playoff final where they beat

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

1–0, ending 26 years outside the top flight. Mimms was one of the players who kept his place in the team throughout the season. Mimms was an integral part of this team. However, Jack Walker was not one to rest on his laurels and after the club's promotion vast amounts of money were spent to recruit the finest talents in the country to

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

. Players such as

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

Stuart Ripley Stuart Edward Ripley (born 20 November 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger from 1985 until 2002, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers and Southampton. He was part of the Rovers squad that won ...

Graeme Le Saux Graeme Pierre Le Saux ( ; born 17 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit. As a versatile left sided player he played most of his career at left back with two spells at Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Southamp ...

and

Kevin Gallacher Kevin William Gallacher (born 23 November 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer and football pundit and co-commentator. He played as a forward from 1983 until 2002, notably in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers where he was p ...

were brought to the club and Mimms was a key part of the team which finished fourth in the 1992–93 season, just missing out on a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

place. In November 1993,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

goalkeeper

Tim Flowers Timothy David Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English football manager and former player who recently was the manager of Stratford Town. He played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers w ...

was brought in as the new number one. From then on, Mimms was rarely selected in the starting line-up, his four appearances in the 1994–95 season not being enough for a title medal, and in early 1996 joined

, where he played just once. He then dropped into the lower divisions, playing for

, hometown club

and finished off his playing career at

in 2001.

Coaching career

Between 2001 and 2008, Mimms worked as goalkeeping coach at

, before returning to Blackburn to fulfil the same role in August 2008, until he was sacked on 27 December 2012. During the pre-season preceding the 2013–14 season, Mimms was appointed goalkeeping coach at

. In February 2014, he left his role at Oldham to join the

as their new goalkeeping coach. In October 2014, Mimms was appointed as goalkeeping coach at

side

. After leaving West Ham, he had short spells coaching at

and

, and in November 2016, joined the coaching staff at

following goalkeeper coach

Gary Walsh Gary Walsh (born 21 March 1968) is an English football coach and professional former footballer who was most recently head goalkeeping coach at EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1985 to 2006, not ...

's move to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He left the club in January 2017, following the sacking of head coach

Mike Phelan Michael Christopher Phelan (born 24 September 1962) is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently a coach at Manchester United. Born in Nelson, Lancashire, he spent most of his playing career at Burnley, Norwich ...

. After leaving Hull City, he joined

in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

as a goalkeeper coach under

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

in September 2017. In June 2018, he joined ATK with Coppell as a goalkeeper coach. After the sacking of Coppell, he also left the club after the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

in April 2019. In June 2019, he was appointed as the goalkeeper coach of

. He became goalkeeping coach of

, but left his role in September 2021. In October 2022 Mims signed a twelve-month contract with the

Fiji Football Association The Fiji Football Association is the governing body of football in Fiji. It came into existence in 1961. It is the overseeing body of the Fiji National Team and its leagues. History Football started to be played in Fiji ever since the arrival o ...

to be the Fiji national goalkeeper coach and to work closely with the other goalkeeping coaches in Fiji. In May 2023 Mimms was head coach of the Fiji national under-20 football team at the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 197 ...

Honours

Everton * 1986 FA Charity Shield,

Blackburn Rovers *

1994–95 FA Premier League The 1994–95 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the Premier League, the top division of professional football in England. Overview Transfers Just before the start of the se ...

Individual * Most clean sheets in the

: 1992–93

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mimms, Bobby 1963 births Living people Footballers from York English footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Halifax Town A.F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Everton F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players York City F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Hull City A.F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches FA Cup final players